


My Taurus

by GeeLiz_98



Series: 30 Day Chanbaek Challenge [2]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Camping, Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Stargazing, Tattoos, True Love, one snarky book reference
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-11 06:47:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28467063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeeLiz_98/pseuds/GeeLiz_98
Summary: Chanyeol and Baekhyun go camping together and cuddle under the stars.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol
Series: 30 Day Chanbaek Challenge [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2081331
Comments: 3
Kudos: 28





	My Taurus

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt for this one was cuddling.

What was, at first, a delightful aroma of freshly barbecued meat very quickly became the pungent stench of burning pork. Within seconds, the tent filled with smoke carrying the smell of charred meat fat, as well as a thickness that made Baekhyun’s eyes water. 

“Shit,” he coughed as he wafted the air in front of his face, struggling to escape the plastic death-trap he was trying to rest in.

When he finally got outside and cleared his lungs, he was far from surprised to see his clumsy boyfriend stamping out a sheet of foil on the ground which had somehow caught fire, taking their dinner with it. 

“What on earth are you doing?” Baekhyun asked in disbelief. Unable to watch his boyfriend attempt to smother out flames on dried grass, he headed around the back of their tent to grab the water bucket. 

With one last pitiful look at the flailing chef, Baekhyun poured the contents of the bucket onto the ground, instantly smothering the flames, but not without taking a detour over his boyfriend's bare feet. 

“Oi! That was uncalled for!” Chanyeol sulked at Baekhyun (who felt little remorse as soon as he saw his soggy meal) before reaching down to pinch some wet food between his fingers with a grimace, attempting to kick the water off his feet. “We could still eat these, right?”

On their first date, one of the things that Chanyeol had explicitly said was that he was “outdoorsy”. To Baekhyun who liked going to bars and sleeping in till 1 pm, the thought of doing anything outdoors was horrifying, to say the least. Outside is dirty, cold, damp, boring, and without electricity. For a brief moment, Baekhyun wondered if this was a turn-off. But then again, Chanyeol was very toned and very tanned; if that was what the outdoors did to a person, who was he to deny himself the pleasure?

Two years later, it became very clear to Baekhyun that Chanyeol was the adventurous type. He liked gliding down cliffs, swimming in lakes, walking really, really far and doing utterly obscene things like wild camping - which Chanyeol delighted in informing Baekhyun involved pissing in bushes and eating raw beans. So essentially, a plethora of things that gave Baekhyun severe anxiety towards his boyfriend’s safety.

Sure, Baekhyun had found many, many things to love about Chanyeol since their first meeting: he was gentle, funny, and fun to be around. But Baekhyun would never partake in such...monstrosities, no matter how much Chanyeol insisted they were “fun” and “character-building”.

So, they had to find a middle ground. Baekhyun’s middle ground was staying in a hotel near a forest. At least they would see trees. Chanyeol suggested this wasn’t enough and that they should go camping.

At least they had an electrical hook up so Baekhyun could charge his phone. 

“Are you taking the piss?” Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol as though he had suggested he eat grass straight from the ground for his meal. “You expect me to eat black, wet meat?”

“Erm...well the plan was that we’d eat nice, freshly cooked meat with,” he sensed Baekhyun’s anger but cleared his throat and pushed on, “with a nice sauce and...and salad?”

The other man nodded, seemingly calm but Chanyeol knew that Baekhyun was never calm when his stomach was empty. The smile he offered his boyfriend felt slightly ominous.

“Do you expect me to nourish myself with a plan, Park Chanyeol? Will a plan stop me from starving to death in the middle of the countryside? Because I am very, very hungry.”

Baekhyun’s gaze shot to his boyfriend when he heard a snort, his eyes meeting with the face of a man who was clearly trying not to laugh. 

“Well, I’m glad you think it’s funny! I came here because I love you and now you’re going to kill me!”

“Oh dear, Baek,” Chanyeol said with the most endearing tone Baekhyun had ever heard, his heart squeezing a little, “I would never starve you, you fool,” he booped Baekhyun on the nose with a childish giggle, “wait there, okay?”

As Chanyeol walked off and up the path towards the campsite reception, Baekhyun flopped onto the grass in a strop. Something he hadn’t anticipated before agreeing to go camping with his boyfriend was that “outdoorsy” doesn’t always mean “skilled” and while Chanyeol was very much gifted when it came to starting fires and naming various nasty berries, something went wrong in him when it came to gas cookers and actual tents. 

Baekhyun was still pouting, pulling at the grass in big clumps and longing for a better time of a bed and a shower when Chanyeol returned.

“You look mighty pleased with yourself considering you are planning to starve me,” Baekhyun snapped, enraged by how happy his boyfriend looked.

A light tap came to the top of his head and a leaflet floated to the ground by his feet. As he reached to grab it, he felt Chanyeol plop down on the ground next to him and rest his chin on Baekhyun’s shoulder. Baekhyun always loved to feel the weight of his boyfriend, it reminded him that he was physically there.

“What’s this?” 

Chanyeol wordlessly reached to turn the leaflet over, revealing large red text: The Red Dragon.

“It’s a Chinese takeaway,” he said, leaving a kiss on Baekhyun’s ear after speaking. He liked Baekhyun’s ears even though Baekhyun thought they were too big. He called Baekhyun Dumbo. Baekhyun called him Dumbo-er because Chanyeol’s ears protruded far more than Baekhyun’s own, so much so that they twitched adorably when he smiled.

Baekhyun’s mouth immediately watered at the thought of a nice, hot bowl of fried rice and he had to wipe a drop of drool from the corner of his lips which made Chanyeol roll around with loud laughter.

“We’re like one mile outside of the town,” he howled as he pushed Baekhyun’s shoulder in his amusement, “it’s not like I have to hunt for food!”

Feeling stupid and put out by his boyfriend’s teasing, Baekhyun put his entire palm over Chanyeol’s face and pushed him back so that he toppled over. As soon as he hit the grass, he only laughed more, clutching his ribs. 

“It’s not that funny,” Baekhyun mumbled, “but I see your point.”   
  


Despite his embarrassment, Baekhyun had to laugh at himself a little, reluctantly helping to pull Chanyeol up from the ground by the hand.

The time was coming up to 7pm. Summer was in full force and the sun was still holding her rightful place in the sky, casting an orange glow across the houses they walked past, across the fields, and across their hands and feet as they walked in time and held each other tightly.

“You look nice today,” Baekhyun complimented his boyfriend, allowing their hands to swing freely between them as they moved.

Chanyeol had decided to allow his hair to grow out for a change and after just a few months, his dark brown locks were already flowing just past his ears. One thing Baekhyun loved to do now that he had the chance was to run his fingers through the thick hair at the nape of Chanyeol’s neck. So, with his free hand, he did just that. The way the golden rays of the sun reflected off the hairs, exposing the lighter pigment that would usually be lost, was something Baekhyun had to cherish. After knowing Chanyeol so well for so long, it was the small things that he loved the most.

“You look nice too,” Chanyeol said with a smile, “especially when you’re not pouting.”

“Is my pouting not cute?”   
  


The air filled with Chanyeol’s warm laughter again and Baekhyun wondered if he could compete with even the sun. 

By the time they returned to their campsite, the sun was much lower in the sky and the temperature had begun to drop. The grass began to dampen beneath Baekhyun’s bare toes and the insects took over from the birds by singing their evening tunes. 

While Baekhyun prepared the food they had brought back with them, Chanyeol lit a blazing fire and laid out their blankets, ready for them to settle down for an evening in nature.

“There’s a caravan over there with a TV…” Baekhyun informed Chanyeol while handing him his chicken nuggets and chips. Baekhyun wondered what Chanyeol’s mother would say if she knew he had chosen processed shit over actual, proper food. Nothing good he supposed. 

A tut came from the man next to him. “You have a TV all year round. Why not appreciate the sky, the sunset, the stars just this once?”

“I was only telling you,” Baekhyun defended himself (with a lie), “how could I miss the TV when my view is so beautiful?”

He turned to his boyfriend and fluttered his eyes coquettishly, wincing slightly when he saw the entire chicken ball stored in Chanyeol’s cheek. Charming. 

“Mmm,” Chanyeol spoke with his mouth full, “you’re right. The sunset is amazing. They always say that if the sky is red at night, that’s good because-”

“Chanyeol…”   
  


“-the dust particles are low in concentration so the weather will be good tomorrow. Something to do with the pre-”

“Chanyeol?”

His boyfriend quickly swallowed his food and turned to Baekhyun with wide eyes, “what?”

With an eye roll and a snigger, Baekhyun leaned in to kiss Chanyeol on the lips, basking in the other man’s shocked gasp. He kept going, relishing in the warmth of Chanyeol’s lips from the heat of the fire, as well as his boyfriend’s satisfied sigh. When he spoke, he did so with his lips still partially wrapped up in Chanyeol’s own.

“I wasn’t talking about the sky,” he whispered, “I was talking about you.”

It was amazing, really, how such a masculine giant of a man who climbed mountains and boned fresh fish for fun could have such a shy blush. He also had a pretty cute giggle.

“O-oh,” he stuttered, “I...I have a pretty good view, too. Your hair looks really soft today. You haven’t styled it. Looks pretty. You look pretty.”

They had to kiss again for good measure. It only felt right.

As soon as their food was finished, they arranged their blankets so that they were close together, allowing them to comfortably lie on the ground and look up at the stars. Far more accustomed to sleeping rough, Chanyeol happily agreed to lie on the ground, propping his head up on his arm, while Baekhyun lay on his chest. 

“You see the group of stars there,” Chanyeol raised an arm up to the sky, exposing his forearm of tattoos, a spattering of stars to reflect his love of astronomy, “that looks like a bowl? With a handle?”

Baekhyun hummed, reaching up to run a finger along Chanyeol’s protruding veins. He knew that his boyfriend had a tattoo for him but he was too shy to say which. Baekhyun knew it was one of the stars on his right forearm. He often wondered earnestly whether it was one of the brightest.

The sky was incredibly clear, clearer than Baekhyun had ever seen it given their distance from big cities and light pollution. He was also secretly pleased he hadn’t been looking at his phone screen for a while so that the white holes in the eternal darkness were even more poignant. 

“That’s the big dipper,” he always sounded so excited to share his knowledge with Baekhyun and Baekhyun loved to listen to him. He could allow Chanyeol to talk about the things he loved for hours upon hours and Baekhyun would take in every word.

“Does it not scare you,” Baekhyun wondered, “to look up there like this? At all of the stars and all of the emptiness? Does it not make you feel small? Lonely?”

His boyfriend pondered on this for a minute before shaking his head. “The sky isn’t empty. It’s so full of stars, maybe an infinite number. The light just hasn’t reached us yet. I don’t think that’s scary. I think it’s magical. One day these stars will be gone but brighter stars will replace them. That’s not scary or lonely at all.”

Baekhyun turned his head to look at Chanyeol, admiring the brightness of his eyes as he envisioned a universe so massive, so wrapped up in it and so overwhelmed that his brown orbs shone like those very stars. 

“Besides,” Chanyeol continued, “what makes you think we’re any different from those stars? In the grand scheme of things, they’re pretty small, too. But we get to bask in their beauty,” he smiled down at Baekhyun, propping himself up on his arm so that he could stroke Baekhyun’s cheek with the back of his finger, also tattooed with a sun, “just like I get to bask in yours.”

As lovely as those words were, Baekhyun couldn’t help but physically recoil from them. “That’s the grossest thing you’ve ever said, you know that?” 

“Why? Your thoughts are stars that you cannot fathom into constellations, after all,” came his reply, quoting The Fault in Our Stars which he had bought for 5p in a charity shop and enjoyed far too much.

“That book is for children, Chanyeol and that quote makes no sense at all,” Baekhyun deadpanned, “don’t ruin it! Tell me more about the stars.”

So, he did. With quiet focus, Chanyeol held onto Baekhyun’s hand and guided their pointed fingers across the night sky, naming the constellations, painting pictures in Baekhyun’s mind.

“That one is Orion,” Chanyeol directed Baekhyun’s hand to the exact position in the night’s sky, “and that one...is you.”

“Me?”

Chanyeol took his arm and lined it up with the group of stars, pointing out that the gathering of dots from his tattoos were grouped in the exact same way as the ones floating above their heads. 

“That is the constellation for Taurus. So...you,” he held his arm out so that Baekhyun could see the tattoo more clearly, “this tattoo is for you…”

Stunned, Baekhyun reached across and traced the outline of the stars on his boyfriend’s arms, hardly able to believe that he had added something so permanent yet so special to his body, just for Baekhyun. Chanyeol spent his life admiring the stars and he had chosen to show his love for Baekhyun by decorating his skin with those same stars. All of the stars on Chanyeol’s body were his, not just one or two. Not only the brightest. All of them. 

The thought dazzled Baekhyun and he couldn’t help but show his appreciation by kissing Chanyeol’s lips so very deeply under the map of the universe, under the map of Baekhyun. Chanyeol’s Baekhyun.

As the night crept into the smaller hours, the temperature dropped so the pair walked hand in hand to their beds, leaving the fire to fizzle out naturally. 

Their tent was only small but Baekhyun had insisted on making it as comfortable as possible. This meant that most of the tent was covered with cushions leaving very little room for two grown men to find space to lie down. 

This was perfect, of course, because it allowed Baekhyun to snuggle up to Chanyeol as close as he possibly could. 

“It’s cold,” Baekhyun spoke, his hot breath creating a fog, “I need you to get closer to keep me warm…”

“We’re in sleeping bags?” 

Baekhyun flapped his arms in irritation, unzipping the side of his sleeping bag and gesturing for Chanyeol to climb inside.

His boyfriend gave him a very judgemental look. “I won’t fit in there...I am very tall in case you haven’t noticed…”

Not having any of it, Baekhyun reached towards Chanyeol’s own sleeping back and zipped it open, much to his horror because of the cold air. With much concentration, Baekhyun worked out a way to zip the two bags together and climbed in close to his boyfriend, nestling his head into Chanyeol’s neck.

“You’re really warm,” Baekhyun murmured into Chanyeol’s neck, “it’s nice.”

He felt a strong hand begin to run through his hair, gently massaging in a way that caused Baekhyun’s entire body to relax and for him to elicit an involuntary purr. 

“Your hands are so big and strong. I love your hands so much,” he demonstrated this by clasping onto the hand under the covers and holding it close to his chest, “your hands do great things. They build things, they cook things, they are very useful in bed, too.”

Chanyeol laughed softly at Baekhyun’s tired, incoherent ramblings. Pulling him in even tighter, Chanyeol leaned into Baekhyun’s head, breathing in the sweet smell of his shampoo. Then Baekhyun spoke again.

“Not as much as I love your arms,” he whispered, “because your arms are where you keep me. Because I am your star.”

“Of course,” Chanyeol whispered back, “you are the brightest star of them all.”

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> The cuddling needed context...
> 
> Twitter: Yeoloutof10 for more fics, no more discussion of stars sadly. I have told you what I know.


End file.
